summer and smoke

I was so distracted by tattoos and rapidfire deadlines for articles topping the week that only yesterday afternoon did I realize that the Canadian wildfires had determined it was the midwest's turn for its smokiness, and that what I just assumed was Chicago weirdness fog (the kind when heat meets the coolness of the lake) was in fact smoke. It explains why occasionally Monday, I caught a whiff of what smelled like roadkill (not that I am sniffer of roadkill, only that occasionally our dogs would roll in something dead as a kid and to me, it always smelled like smoke and garbage had a baby.) Not strong and just a trace, but also why my eye was doing its watery thing Monday when I woke up it usually only does when I try to use new hair products. 

While it does not seem here on the ground as bad as it was in NYC a couple weeks back, and much less apocalyptically orange, I can see it in the obstructed photos of the skyline and the general grayness, even though I've either gotten used to the smell or it's not blowing in the windows anymore. I've resisted getting an A/C for two decades with the purpose of actually having the windows open, which I live for, and the lake's usual mitigating effects on the heat, but if this becomes a regular thing I may reconsider. It's supposed to blow outta here in a day or so, with the similarly apocalyptic heat bubble affecting the southwest blowing in in its stead, so I am not sure which I prefer smoke and cooler air or scorching heat and humidity, but both are likely to become more and more frequent.  

I've been writing writing writing, and planning more tattoos to get and plotting collage series, and sleeping deep like the dead when I finally get in bed. Today, I expect the proof copy of COLLAPSOLOGIES to arrive, so will set to finalizing that this weekend and should be in good shape as we round into July. There is also another little bookish-related surprise for the shop coming in the form of another journal design. Now that I have the hand of design elements, it moved much faster. Also, some new 11x17 prints coming and maybe postcards. 

Time moves with its usual swiftness, and tomorrow, I will once again be closing out the month,  tallying time sheets, sending invoices, and plotting goals for July. Monday, I wrote the first Halloween-related crafty article since, like retail, editorial calendars are always ahead of the curve. The 4th is next week, and once it passes, the summer that is already plodding swiftly gets much faster and vanishes into September. Soon, there will be fall decor in stores if it is not already. Every fall, I do look forward to the occasional slight waft the scent of woodsmoke from cozy neighborhood fireplaces and not, ya know, Canada on fire, so maybe it's a good thing.